


Moonrise

by Elementale



Category: RWBY
Genre: First Date, M/M, Not Beta Read, but I wasn’t sure if it should be ch 2 or its own thing, fairgameweek2020, opted for the latter, this sort of picks up where day 1 left off
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:01:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23184454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elementale/pseuds/Elementale
Summary: Day 2 - Date“Ever heard of a diamond dust night?”“Can’t say I have.”“How about a winter halo?”“Moon rings. Those I’ve seen before.”
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Comments: 10
Kudos: 38





	Moonrise

“Pretty night.”  
  
The pair sat at a bench in front of the frozen fountain, the crystallized water shimmering with a measure of white moonlight cast down from above. Qrow’s eyes scanned the buttonup shirt the other wore and his hands traveled up to fix the collar on his own jacket, an involuntary shudder running through him from the evening chill.  
  
“How are you alright in _just that?”_ _  
_  
He followed Clover’s line of vision downward as the other chuckled, and moved to toe away a piece of ice sitting between his left foot and Clover’s right. The other’s foot intercepted his kick by quickly dragging the ice over to his left boot.  
  
“I’ve been out for colder nights,” he started as he kicked the ice over to Qrow’s right foot, “You get used to it growing up out here. And as nice as this spot from the park is, you actually get a better view of what I wanted to show you tonight from the tundra.”  
  
Qrow kicked the ice back and tried to get it past Clover, but it was stopped and kicked back in his direction with a gravelly scrape of a sole on concrete.  
  
“Ever heard of a diamond dust night?”  
  
He almost made it past Clover’s boots this time. The ice was kicked lightly back to him as if it were an invitation to try again, and this time the makeshift ice puck did slide past the other’s shoes.  
  
“Can’t say I have.”  
  
“How about a winter halo?”  
  
“Moon rings. _Those_ I’ve seen before.”

  
  
Clover stood up.

“There’s a spot not too far from here where the halo should be the most visible. With any luck, it’ll just take a minute to find.”

  
  
Qrow crossed a leg to shield the colder one of the two, bringing a hand up to trace a finger playfully along Clover’s forearm and smiled coyly.  
  
“Your luck or mine?”  
  
Clover ran a hand down the back of his neck with a beaming smile.  
  
“I’ll have to get back to you on that,” he hummed as he started walking away from the bench, but not before taking Qrow’s hand in his and running a thumb over the other’s knuckles, “it’ll just take a minute.”  
  
“It’s fine, take your time.”  
  
The air felt colder around his hand when the other pulled away.  
  
Even the aura shielding him from the brunt of the evening’s cold didn’t do much to soothe the prickling sensation of the cutting air as it wrapped his face and hands. He took a look at his ungloved hands while licking at his chapped lips. If the light around could be trusted, there were definitely pronounced cracks in his skin that hadn’t been there before, and he could only imagine how flush the cold was leaving the skin on his face. It could be worse he supposed, but that didn’t remove the fact that the cold would be a cosmetic hazard to anyone who cared more for their skin.  
  
  
“Hey, I found it,” Clover called back to Qrow, beckoning him over to where he stood. Taking the spot next to him, Qrow turned his head up and saw the minuscule flecks of ice hover and dance through the bluish light engulfing the area. The shattered sphere itself was in clear view sure enough, but the halo was faint.  
  
“Are you sure?”  
  
He was answered by a set of familiar hands taking hold of his forearms, gently pulling him to where the other man stood. Not taking his eyes off the sky while letting his feet follow the pull, he found himself standing in the same spot Clover had just a second before. There was a smile Qrow couldn’t help at hearing the shuffle of the other man’s footsteps as he moved away and kept watching the moon from behind him.  
“Look, I get the whole ‘keep a respectful distance on the first date’ thing Clover - I really do,” Qrow continued, turning his head to the side with a cross of his arms, “but you’re welcome to try and keep me a little warmer if you’re up to it.”  
  
Clover stepped forward. Qrow heard and felt the rumble of soft laughter from the chest now pressed to his back. “I thought you’d never ask.”  
The grin that had etched itself into his face didn’t seem it was going to fade anytime soon, and he found the larger frame against his relaxing.  
“Mind if I lean back a bit?”  
“By all means,” said the other, enveloping Qrow’s crossed arms with his, and setting his chin to rest on his left shoulder.  
  
“Is all this too much?”  
  
This time it was Qrow’s turn to laugh. “Let’s just say you really know how to make a guy feel wanted, Clover. I like that.”  
He closed his eyes with a contented exhale as he felt the other nuzzle into the crook of his neck in response to the praise, the warmth seeping in through the cloth like water into a sponge. As he let himself recline a bit further back into the embrace, an all too warm feeling found its way to his chest where it curled up and nested itself. Despite the burning sensation the frozen crystalline fragments setting onto bare skin brought, this was the first time he could say he’d ever felt so at home or warm out in the cold. Nothing else had ever done this for him before.  
  
Clover briefly lifted his left arm and Qrow’s eyes opened in response, following the other’s hand.  
“It’s there,” he murmured, tracing the halo around the moon with a finger. Against the obsidian backdrop littered with stars - those stars still in contrast to the twinkling ice crystals drifting by - the white ring was visible, sure enough. Its interior a redder glow in the ring while the thin transition through the color spectrum gave the outside a bluer glow.  
  
“It’s beautiful,” was all he could manage. Whether he was referring to the ethereal glow of the broken moon and its halo or the feeling resting just under his sternum was anyone’s guess.  
  
  
“So are you,” Clover grinned, resting his chin on Qrow’s shoulder again as their eyes fixed on the color spectrum refracted in that ring together.  
  



End file.
